The Black Scrolls of Ahm; An Excerpt

by Gaius Chandler

Many have sought these scrolls through the ages. They're said to detail the origins of demons, the lifecycles and powers of these monsters, and give power to one over the Abyss itself. Despite many claims of scholars throughout history, never have the full works of Ahm been collected. Small excerpts, such as the one transcribed in this book, are occasionally found and compiled, but there remains a great deal of work before much more than a sliver of knowledge is able to be obtained here.

Secrets of substance are often hidden from seekers of knowledge. It requires quite a dedication to uncover, and bravery. The Tale of Ahm details the terrible outcome of this loremaster, not only a horrific tragedy to himself, but the entire region in which he once lived. This book clearly does not contain enough of this knowledge to attract the attention of the Abyss or its denizens, else I wager that I would have been killed or scared off by the time I've printed this.

The surviving excerpt from the Black Scrolls of Ahm, written by Tulket nor Ahm, transcribed by Gaius Chandler;

"In the beginning, there was light . . . but in the time before that, chaos raged. To study fiends is to study the Abyss. Rage, hate, and roiling chaos enshroud all ancient fiendish lore like a darkmantle engulfs its prey. As such, students of demonic mythos are not usually claimed by madness, but by the subject matter itself. A loremaster who tempts the Abyss with his curiosity might find it looking right back at him, hooking its shadowy tendrils into his soul and clutching at his very being with a strength that predates the eternal. But madness? No, he will not survive to know madness.

That said, I study the lore of demons, and somehow I endure. I have neither wrestled the Abyss directly nor allowed my many encounters with the fiends that serve it (yes, I said they serve it!) to quench my thirst for knowledge. Those who come after me might be more careful, if less skilled, and they can continue the dark journey from the end of my steps. But, alone in my explorations, I have uncovered truths they could not hope to discover firsthand.

Most importantly, I have learned that the Abyss is the darkling chaos from which all things come. This genesis has nothing to do with good or evil--just pure, churning chaos, in its simplest form. Who could have believed that the origin of life--of earth, of tree and stream--spawns from such turmoil? Yet, it is true. It is only through the imposition of order that the gods create, and they must work the stuff of chaos to build their thrones above man's domain. They create law and force order, twisting what was pure into something . . . else--something more suited to their survival and their dominance over us. As such, they are not ultimately responsible for creation, but only for helping the essence of life take shape.

Therefore, is it any wonder that demons hate and envy the divine? The gods corrupt the pure chaos of the fiends' spawning grounds and leave them thrashing around in what is left. These deities then ascend to higher planes, often taking credit for the creation of the universe, or individual planes, or mankind, or any number of wonders over which they had little influence. The chaos and evil of the Abyss is all the fiends have left, which is why the demonic now wage war against the divine.

It is my hope that I shall discover much more before I am myself overcome by the Abyss. However, the fiends have learned of my quest for knowledge, and they fear my power. Soon, the battle will come. I can only pray to gods I no longer worship that my learning survives me. Forge on."

Forge on indeed! With such a terrible force as the Abyss itself constantly hungering to spread its entropy further and further through the multiverse, mortals such as we should try to ensure that we can protect ourselves and others from such things. My only advice is that we must be careful to protect the sanctity of our Prime. Look within rather than without, and you'll find that your very spirit is the key to maintaining control.